Highly-rated youngsters Jamal Mohammed and Ollie Bostock have penned their first professional contracts with Albion.
Towering central defender Mohammed, 18, and tricky attacker Bostock, 17, have agreed two-and-a-half year deals to stay at the club until June 2026.
The duo have made big impressions on academy manager Richard Stevens, under-18s boss Leigh Downing and under-21s chief Richard Beale and have been rewarded by first steps into professional football at the end of their scholarships with the Baggies.
Both teens are London born but have followed different paths to securing a first contract. Bostock’s family moved to Lichfield when he was young and he joined the club’s academy aged six. Mohammed spent time at Peterborough United before being snapped up by the Baggies’ youth ranks aged 15.
Bostock, who only turned 17 last month, has been one of a few scholarship regulars in Beale’s under-21s side in the Premier League 2 this term. But it has been a frustrating season for 6ft 5ins defender Mohammed, who ruptured the ACL in his knee in September and has not featured since. That long-term setback came just a couple of months after the powerful stopper caught the eye in a pre-season friendly at Cheltenham for Carlos Corberan’s first team.
Academy manager Stevens said: “For Jamal and Ollie, it’s well-deserved. Both are different stories on entry into the academy, and different stories on how the last two seasons have gone for them.
“Jamal did incredibly well as a first-year scholar, played for the under-21s as an under-17 and then suffered a frustrating injury back in September. We saw enough in his first year that we wanted to get him back on the pitch and we think there’s huge potential in him.
“Ollie’s been here since his schoolboy years and these are important stories for a football academy. Being here pre-academy, coming through the foundation phase, and I’m delighted that Ollie has committed to us, continued to develop, and now he’s getting the rewards for his patience.”
Bostock, an attacker who can play wide or centrally, is currently away on youth international duty with Wales, who he has captained at under-17s. He netted in the under-18s’ good display to draw 2-2 with Villa on Saturday and has made nine appearances for Beale’s under-21s this season.
Stevens emphasised the club’s desire to create opportunities via pathways for young players to climb through the ranks and catch the eye.
He referenced new first-team star Tom Fellows, 20, who joined the club as an under-10, as a “shining light” for the academy and its youngsters.
“It’s a challenging industry and as a club we have to work hard to create an environment which provides opportunities for our young players,” he said.
“Tom Fellows is a great example of that. He’s been here a long time, has had to take his chances when they’ve come and it’s not always been easy for him. But what we’re seeing now is the accumulation of hard work and effort paying off. He is a shining light for this academy.
“Jamal and Ollie are also examples for the younger players at this football club because we will continue to work hard with them and provide opportunity for them to grow their dreams at the Albion.”
GET MORE NEWS HERE
Jonathan Jonathan